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Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Made in Italy - Trattoria @ Pyrmont

The essence of Italian
cooking is simplicity. Most Italian dishes are only made from very few
ingredients with the focus being placed on the quality of the ingredients
used (did I mention that cheese, wine and herbs being most common of the
ingredients? My taste buds tango at that thought!). Because of the simplicity
of the dishes, Italian is one of my most common DIY meals for the time-starved
at home.On a lazy Sunday night after spending the
afternoon savouring Messina gelato at The Star and sipping on Hendricks &
Cucumber at a Pyrmont bar, me and good friend decided to fill up on a bit of
carbs (...and to continue the festive splurge on food and wine!).
Our restaurant pick was the closely located Made in
Italy - established in 2001 and quickly known for their great tasting pizza,
pastas and salads. The first thing you notice walking in is the old-school
scooter and the bright red Fiat near the entrance - it sure sets a scene but
expectations of the food quality went on a steep decline (I got the feel of a
themed and commercialised restaurant and those places don't usually do too well
in the food department - but then I may have thought differently if they
displayed a mini cooper?).

First we
ordered the Stuffed Zucchini Flowers - yes the flower which grows from the stem
of the zucchini fruit is edible, and when stuffed, battered and deep fried,
makes a pretty scrumptious starter to a fine meal. Yes, fruit! Interestingly
the zucchini is by botanical definition a fruit and not the vegetable it is
commonly known as in the culinary world. Even more interestingly, zucchinis are
actually the swollen ovaries of the female zucchini flower!The
zucchini flower was served on a bed of rocket leaves casually dressed in olive
oil and balsamic vinegar, lightly battered and fried until golden. The stuffing
of ricotta cheese and anchovies was very tasty but did overpower the dish
- Delicious!

Our next
dish was the Caprese Salad with buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto and
tomatoes, pitted olives and basil. The salad was tossed in a well balanced
olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. The buffalo mozzarella were large
pieces, very soft, stringy and porcelain white in colour. The prosciutto were
tender, large thinly sliced pieces that were not too salty or dry - all
characteristics of quality Italian prosciutto. The flavours worked so well
together I could not get enough of this amazing salad and my taste buds are
waltzing!

I love a
good carpaccio so I would usually jump at every opportunity to order carpaccio
if it is offered on the menu. There were two carpaccio options on the menu,
fresh salmon or beef - we opted for Carpaccio di Carne. The beef was very
thinly sliced, served with a good amount of olive oil, a wedge of lemon and
topped with rocket leaves and shaved reggiano parmasan. I found this dish a
little bland at first, and the rocket and parmesan overthrew the taste of
the too-thinly sliced meat. However a generous squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch
of salt and a bit of cracked pepper fixed up half my concerns.

Our final
dish was the Fettuccine Boscaiola. The fettuccine was cooked al dente, and
coated in a creamy (but not too heavy) boscaiola sauce with chunky pieces of
mushrooms and ham, and topped with parmasan.

Overall, a great experience. The staff is attentive
and polite, the ambience is friendly and warm. A great place to come with the
family, big and small. Carb-coma time!xxOh! The
pizza. Our little tummies could not fit another pizza after our already very
fulfilling meal. However I did take an opportunity to arrange pizza delivery in
the office for lunch. Ordering was a good old-fashioned call to their landline
- quick and simple (no queuing and listening to ads on the phone, no
overburdening of questions like the ones some pizza chains put us through, no
complicated online forms, no fuss).

We ordered the
Margherita, the Capricciosa, the Tropicale, the Made In Italy and the Suprema.
The verdict - the best delivered pizza in Sydney! The crust is thin and crispy,
the toppings generous and very fresh, and the delivery on time. It was so
popular with the team that there was some talk about replacing birthday cakes
with birthday pizzas! Nom nom nom!(Note:
If you don't fancy delivery, you could pop down to their little shop tucked away
in York Lane for your pizza fix. Grab a few mates, a pizza or two and take a
seat on their classy blue milk crates before Friday night drinks!)

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